Task 5D

Today I managed to have a quick skype call with my friend Hannah Stewart who is part of my SIG group. We discussed the ethical dimensions of my proposed inquiry and as she is one module ahead of me she could give me a lot of great advice and feedback. She helped to bring to light to me the importance of making my inquiry ethically sound to protect myself and also those who volunteer their information to me.

Here are some of the main points when conducting an ethical inquiry our discussion brought to light for me:

• Always insure data collection is accurate, valid and relevant - only ask questions that are relevant to the inquiry do not divulge from the specific topic being researched.

• Always make sure data collected is stored safely and appropriately, whether this be electronically on a database or spreadsheet on a locked computer or manually by sorting papers and keeping them in a locked filing cabinet.

• Be respectful to your research participants - explain fully the purpose of your research and let then know if they are not comfortable answering questions they can leave at any time.

• Give your contact details to participants so they are ablet to contact you incase they have any further questions or queries. 

• If your participants are under the age of 18 make sure you get parental permission form signed.

• Manage resources efficiently, for example time management - let the participant know how long you will need them for and do not exceed this allocated time.

• When giving out surveys to be filled out and completed, keep feedback completely anonymous as this gives people more confidence and freedom to speak, in turn giving you a more truthful honest answer.

Task 5C

Please find bellow the link to my wiki on my thoughts on reader 5! All comments would be hugely appreciated! thank you! :)

Task 5c Professional Ethics

Task 5B... Codes of practise within theatre

While searching the web on ethics in the theatre I came across this interesting piece of writing:

Theatre code of ethics

I found it very interesting as it explores the codes of ethics in the theatre and how the framework of performing is a good attitude and respect, not only for yourself but for the rest of your company and your audience. It shows that these principles have been set for many years and will continue to apply for many years to come.

The code of ethics as a performer does not only apply to ourselves and our fellow company members it also applies to our audience. We as performers have an ethical duty to always produce an outstanding performance, giving 110% and always making it feel like "opening night" no matter if there is 3 people in the audience or 300!

I believe that within our industry our code of ethics lies in our professionalism, wether we are in a contract or just taking part in an audition we should always be professional in the way we carry ourselves and present ourselves.

This blog does not differ from my original assumptions and thoughts from task 5A but in turn supports it and has opened my eyes to other key factors!

There is a very very long list of ethical codes which I could write about within our industry but through research through reading writings such as the link above and pulling from personal experience and contracts I have worked previously here are what I personally consider my top 5:

1. Always give 110% wether there is 3 or 300 people in your audience
2. Adhere to your company contract and ethos - make sure you understand and comply with the rules and regulations each different company you may work for have.
3. Respect - be it yourself, other company members or your audience. 
4. Be responsible and professional - look after your own costumes/props, be on time and know your work
5. Safety - adhere to theatre regulations, do not do anything that will put yourself or others in danger. 

Investigating literature...

So I have been away for a while and had to pause my module 2 work but I am now back  and starting to pick up where I left off and get back into the swing of things again. I have spent all afternoon looking over what I wrote a few months ago and analysing the questions I came up with earlier. Alan gave me great feed back and made me see I am focusing on too many things with too broad a spectrum of ideas. I should take one and focus solely on that in more detail. I have now narrowed that down to 2 ideas for my line of inquiry...

1. Eating disorders within the dance community

2. Becoming audition ready as a dancer

Looking at option 2 I have found a few interesting articles of literature on the Internet regarding other dancers and examiners views and opinions on becoming audition ready for a dance audition. I found this hugely interesting to read other peoples views on how to prepare as I noticed where I do many things personally similar to what they say they also opened my eyes to a lot of different methods I did not think of.... E.g meditation and confidence building exercises the night before to get you mentally prepared. I found this fascinating And an idea which I will try myself as I have always focused on being physically ready and not so much mentally. I truly believe in the power if positive thinking so I would like to look into this further.

Another point which is highlighted in all three articles is the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet leading up to audition. In the article "7 tips to success in audition" I found it very interesting as she talks about testing before class which foods give you the most energy to sustain through the audition but do not make you feel heavy. I think this is a great idea and it is not something I thought
about when getting "audition ready" but lack of energy and feeling heavy and bloated is something I
know I personally and other dancer have suffered from during an audition, which can hinder your
performance and in turn hinder your success on the day.

Here are the links to the three pieces of literature I found helpful:

http://www.examiner.com/article/dance-audition-tips

http://www.dancedream3.com/perform-now/dance-audition-tips.php

http://dancingopportunities.com/index.php/7-tips-to-success-in-audition/

Another great piece of literature I found was from the site "dance magazine" http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/February-2009/Auditions-Guide

If you read further down it gives feedback from the casting directors who hold dance auditions. They are giving there advice on what they see as a successful audition and how to become ready for the big day and a lot of their advice coincides with advice given from the other articles. Be confident, be appropriately dressed, stand out, be polite and make a good impression.

Another part of this articles found hugely interesting is titled "resume 2.0" bringing me right back to module 1 and the importance and us of Web 2.0. It explains that yes a dancers body is her instrument and tool to success but we can also use the web in many ways to promote ourselves and to help become audition ready - "while nothing replaces raw ability - and a knack for nailing an audition - a smart dancer knows how to market that ability." This quote really got me thinking and has opened up ideas to me about using Web 2.0 as part of becoming "audition ready as a dancer" and I would like to explore this more in my investigation.

Task 5A Ethics....

Here are my initial thoughts on ethics in my professional practise in regards to working in the theatre with a large cast. Most I feel are common sense and part of being professional In the work place others are set by the theatre.

• Racism and discrimination with fellow employees
• Bullying at the workplace be it mental or physical
• Age discrimination
• Professional boundaries - no teacher/student relationships
• No filming of shows/rehearsals without signing a deceleration of permission
• Mutual respect - respecting others views, opinions and religions
• Copyright laws - regarding sheet music, scores etc
• Safety - do not do something you know will put yourself or others in danger
• Stealing
• Background checks when teaching young children 
• Sexual harassment 
• Time keeping
• Honouring your contract and terms and conditions
• Responsibilities - being personally responsible for your own costumes and knowing choreography and spacing etc

Task 4C...

Being a self employed performer you are your own boss most of the time and without always having a stable job it is hard to have a mentor and someone you can look to for guidance. Personally I think my agent and my dance teacher from college would be the best people for me to turn to for guidance. I think there input would be great for my inquiry as they have been in the business a long time and both had very successful careers in the musical theatre industry.

While being on tour in china surrounded by a cast of 18 dancers and company managers, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use my fellow colleagues and employers to develope my questions further! As everyone in the cast is of different ages, from different backgrounds and all have different experiences within our professional industry it will be interesting to see the feed back I receive from them regarding certain areas of our practise.


Here are my set of questions I have put forward to my cast members:

• Do you think it is important to continue training while you are out of work?
• How do you keep physically fit and audition ready while you are out of work?
• Do you know anyone in the industry personally or from previous contracts who has suffered from an eating disorder?
• Have you ever felt pressure to be "skinny"? 
• What advice would you give to someone starting out in the musical theatre industry to help them succeed? 
• How do you become audition ready? 
• How do you deal with rejection and negativity surrounding your career, do you find it difficult?
• Do you believe that effective networking within the industry can help your success?
• What Internet based networks do you use and find effective in helping you forward your career? Facebook,dancerspro etc?
• Do you believe it's "not what you know, it's who you know" in this industry? Does this effect your success?
• Do you agree that CPD(continued professional development) in musical theatre is important? Once we become "professional" does that mean we should stop learning and striving to be better?
• What would you say is key to a successful audition?
• As a dancer in training are you aware of what your daily calorie intake should be?

I will blog my results at a later date as as you can see I have gave them a lot to think about! 

As always I would be hugely grateful for some feedback and please feel free to answer some of my questions if you have the time :) 

Questions continued...

So after many hours of thinking debating and confusing myself with my own questions I have decided to take the plunge and decide what to base my inquiry on.....

"The key to success in musical theatre; what helps and hinders us to becoming a successful performer"

I feel this question will leave me room to really explore every aspect of my professional practise and it will incorporate many of my other themes I had in mind. With this I can explore how much CPD(continued professional practise) can benefit your career, I can look into audition techniques and how we as performers become audition ready. I can discuss the importance of networking and the use of the Internet can be a huge benefit.I can also expand into dealing with rejection. I will also look at how not being physically and mentally fit can hinder your success. What problems we face on the road to success, unemployment, eating disorders etc.

This is also very helpful to me in my current position in my career as after working in ships I am now also trying to break into the musical theatre scene.

I would love some feedback on my ideas please if you could spare a second. I would love to know what your thoughts and feelings are and if you think this is a worth while inquiry.

Thanks! :)